Mobile World Congress: Graphene Pavilion Presented by The Graphene Flagship

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The Graphene Flagship, the EU’s biggest ever research initiative, is excited to present the inaugural Graphene Pavilion at the 2016 Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world's largest gathering for the mobile industry with over 100,000 attendees and 2000 exhibitors, 22-25 February 2016 in Barcelona, Spain*. The Graphene Pavilion will be a unique space to explore the latest graphene based innovations from both academia and industry with numerous prototypes and
demonstrations.

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​Graphene and the Mobile Industry

Graphene is one of the most Interesting and versatile materials available to mankind. As the world's first 2D material it contains a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice and has a series of unique and outstanding properties. As well as being the thinnest, strongest and lightest known material it is flexible, impermeable to any known molecule and is extremely electrically and thermally conductive.

As the mobile industry strives to maintain its pace of innovation, graphene has much to offer - helping to solve many problems including flexibility, smart batteries and sensors. Graphene can help to facilitate the next generation of mobile technology from chips and interconnects for data communication to screens and casings. For example, the strong and flexible nature of graphene makes flexible displays and bendable batteries possible and its excellent sensing ability can be used in the next generation of wearable electronics and will help to provide the building blocks for the internet of things.

The Graphene Pavilion

It is because of the potential of graphene that the Graphene Flagship was invited to present theGraphene Pavilion within the MWC. The Graphene Pavilion will feature industry and academic coexhibitors all of whom have a shared goal to showcase the latest achievements in graphene research and development for the mobile ecosystem. At the heart of the Graphene Pavilion will be the Graphene Flagship itself, providing the perfect opportunity to learn more about the Flagship and its interdisciplinary, collaborative approach to research and development.

Speaking from the Graphene Flagship about the MWC Prof. Frank Koppens, Science and Technology curator of the Graphene Pavilion and chair of the Conference Session (from ICFO - The Institute of Photonic Sciences) says "The Graphene Pavilion shows the future of graphene and its impact on the mobile ecosystem. We can already see that great progress has been made in the development of a large range of applications. Thus, the 2016 Mobile World Congress is the right place and time to present exciting prototype demonstrations developed by companies and academic institutions."

Demos and Prototypes at the Graphene Pavilion

The Graphene Pavilion, jointly organised and run by the Graphene Flagship, ICFO and GSMA will include live demos and prototypes of many different properties and applications such as a wearable fitness sensor that will collect heart beats from visitors of MWC (presented by the ICFO), printable touch sensors (presented by the University of Cambridge and Novalia), a working graphene supercapacitor (presented by Manchester University), flexible displays (presented by FlexEnable), a supercapacitor charger for smartphones (presented by Zap&Go) and a number of different flexible NFC antennas, sensors and ultra-fast photo receivers. Plus there will even be the chance for delegates to make their own graphene sample. All of this will be presented by the main leaders in the field, including industry like Aixtron, AMO, Avanzare, BGT Materials, FlexEnable, GNext, Graphenea, Libre SRL, nVision and Zap&Go, alongside academic institutes such as University of Cambridge, Chalmers University of Technology, University of Manchester, ICFO - The Institute of Photonic Sciences, Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Electronic Materials Technology (ITME) and the Italian Institute of Technology and will make an interesting and vibrant addition to the MWC.

Graphene prominently featured in MWC conference program

Graphene will also be prominently featured within the conference program with the Nobel Laureate Konstantin Novoselov giving a keynote presentation** and a session dedicated entirely to graphene and its applications*** with speakers, Dr Tapani Ryhänen from Nokia, Prof. Frank Koppens from ICFO, Dr Mike Banach from FlexEnable, Prof. Andrea Ferrari from University of Cambridge, Dr Vittorio Pellegrini from IIT Graphene Labs in Italy and Dr Thanasis Georgiou from BGT Materials who represent the broader landscape and therefore can illustrate the intellectual value chain from research to application.

About the Graphene Flagship

The Graphene Flagship is the EU’s biggest ever research initiative. With a budget of €1 billion, it represents a new form of joint, coordinated research initiative on an unprecedented scale. Through a combined academic-industrial consortium, the research effort covers the entire value chain, from materials production to components and system integration, and targets a number of specific goals that exploit the unique properties of graphene. Tasked with bringing together academic and industrial researchers to take graphene from the realm of academic laboratories into European society in the space of 10 years, the Graphene Flagship hopes to facilitate economic growth, new jobs and new opportunities for Europeans as both investors and employees.